The New Year

So many plans, so many plans!  After brainstorming with our editing staff and one of our writers over delicious rice and tofu dishes, we have some exciting ideas for the paper come January.

The one of most note is our layout editor's brainchild: a Blue & White website.  That's right, we are invading the net full force!  The page'll include links to our old issues, discussion boards (perhaps with one dedicated to refutations of refutations of refutations of David Supina's recent satirical article on polygamous dating), and sneak peeks at the pending issue.  We will still be putting out a printed copy of the paper twice a month, same as before; the website will be there to support and supplement the publication, not replace it.

Still hoping to have a poetry contest this semester with a consideration board consisting of Concordia staff members.

And, this blog will be updated weekly starting January 7th - at least, that's my New Year's resolution (:

Thanks for reading, we at the Blue & White appreciate all the awesome feedback and support you've been giving!  Have a Merry Christmas, and a relaxing rest of your break!

The Halloween Edition

Look, look, look, it's everywhere!  A newsletter format, with a lone duck wearing a military helmet in the bottom left.  Scattered around Teglar, sticking out of binders, in piles on book stands. On the floor.  In their hands.  Recycled.  100% are made from reused paper.  There's a Halloween quiz, and bats, and articles about Chapel and costumes.

All in all, an exciting issue that I hope gets read and passed around.

It ran pretty smoothly this time around: our layout editor seems more comfortable with the program and she's doing some really neat stuff.

Also exciting, the pdf versions of past issues will be up on the CSA website in the near future!

Trick or Treat

Head's up!  Issue #3 out sometime this week, details to follow...

Success!

Issue #2 is out at last, and the whole office rejoices.

Yet we lost one along the way: our Layout Editor has departed from us, and our hearts are dolourous.  Yet God provides in our time of need.  One of our writers has the skill to weld and shape words into sheets of art and even now she may have agreed to step in!

Aside from that, things go as usual: articles are in, some great new art has been submitted, and our VP continues to be supportive.  I feel I can breathe now.

AND our next issue is going to have a theme!  It being almost Halloween, I was thinking Trick or Treat? Kind of lame, but a pretty open topic to write on I think.

Happy writing and reading people! Enjoy your Thanksgiving weekend!

Issue #2?

Friday suddenly became busy in the office.  Kyle and myself had gone on an adventure to visit our printers, and had arranged for Issue #2 to be designed by them.  Which meant the articles humming and hawing in a file, awaiting their moment of glory, were suddenly pulled up, organized, and sent out to be morphed into a paper.   Though it is tragic that our Layout Editor will not be able to impart his artistic genius to this issue (his computer still being offline), I'm glad that the paper will be coming out!  Hopefully, it'll be on campus by late this week, or early next week, so keep your eyes open!

Office Hours

What I find the most interesting thing about the day before deadlines is that nothing happens.

Sure, people come in and fade out, sit around and talk, study in the lounge area; but there are no phone calls to make, few e-mails to send, and little motivation to seek out anything new to do.  We're holding our breath.

 Our layout is still on hold.  This constant state of limbo is making me nervous: what to do, what to do in these ages sitting at a desk without a book to read?  I know! Blog. Write an article.  I've missed writing for the paper to be honest.  Editing's great, but trying to turn an idea into 500 words or less? It's a crazy, beautiful thing.  Kudos to the writers who keep sending us amazing stuff!

I did have an office discussion today with a friend about adulthood: it's not as intimidating as we thought it would be.  In fact, it's very much the same as junior high kids sitting around talking about recess.

Letter From the Editor

Editor-in-Chief: someone who sits in an office answering e-mails, occasionally about the publication they work for.

At the moment, my position on this publication board is slightly precarious.

We had a technical difficulty.  A major technical difficulty.  Our layout editor, wizard though he is, lost everything on his hard drive, including Issue #2 which was slated to come out two days ago.

Everything in my position came to a standstill, except for the spinny chair.  It's the feature I love most about office work.  It makes everything a lot more casual if you can spin around full circle while thinking up a clever response to a difficult question.  Not that I ever make it full circle - usually I get caught on the edge of my desk.  Actually, if you want to know, I added that for literary effect. A lot of times I reach the 360 point, but without much to say.  The dramatic effect is lost for lack of good dialog.

A lot of article writing I'm finding hangs on literary effect.  Like the cafeteria.  Students have whined about institutional kitchen meals since they began, but if we give the whining new shiny words, it's well received.   People like hearing what they expect.

But, yes, back to the precariousness of my situation.  Our Vice-President of Internal Affairs, my "boss", though he is the most generous and kind of all bosses I have yet had, is more stressed out than I am.  What am I supposed to do though, really? I can't resurrect the lost hard drive.  The program was highly specialized and unavailable from any known source.  But the VP is right: business as usual, go ahead with the next deadline, keep articles coming in.  We're on the next step forward, and all the e-mails I sent today (well, almost all) were newspaper related.

And that is your first installment from the Spinny Chair Chronicles.

Today's question: if you have a telephone, should it be registered, and if so, may one use cats as target practice?

**Can you think of a better hypothetical question? Post it here, and someone will put forth their best in random answers**